Scandinavian cardamom cake with Frangelico glaze and the World Cup

The 2014 World Cup has begun and apparently it is already a hit. :)

I have been able to watch a couple of matches so far (but not as many as I would have liked to), Italy vs. England being my favorite up to this moment. I thought Argentina was going to crush Bosnia and Herzegovina, but the 2x1 score wasn’t fair: the Argentinian team wasn’t all that good, a draw would have been a better reflect of what the game really was.

There are people from all around the world walking the streets of my country as I type, and I hope they have a lovely time here. Because of the multicultural days we’ve been having, I bring you a multicultural recipe: a Scandinavian cake – packed with cardamom and cinnamon, obviously – with a Frangelico glaze, a nod to my Italian heritage, even though I feel my German blood a lot stronger most of the time, like this morning, when I saw this. :D

Scandinavian cardamom cake with Frangelico glaze
cake slightly adapted from the delicious World Class Cakes: 250 Classic Recipes from Boston Cream Pie to Madeleines and Muffins

Cake:
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ¼ cups (315g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground cardamom (if using pre -round cardamom that amount might be too much)
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ cup (120ml) sour cream*

Glaze:
100g icing sugar
½ tablespoon Frangelico
1 tablespoon whole milk (more if necessary)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Butter a 9-cup capacity Bundt pan (I used a 10-cup capacity pan).
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cardamom and cinnamon.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the vanilla.
On low speed, beat in the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the sour cream (start and end with the dry ingredients). Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake for about 45 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool completely.

Glaze: sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Add the Frangelico e 1 tablespoon of the milk, stir until you get a drizzable consistency (add more milk if necessary). Drizzle over cooled cake. Set aside for 15 minutes.

* homemade sour cream: to make 1 cup of sour cream, mix 1 cup (240ml) heavy cream with 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk until it starts to thicken. Cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for 1 hour or until thicker (I usually leave mine on the counter overnight – except on very warm nights – and it turns out thick and silky in the following morning; refrigerate for a creamier texture)

Serves 10-12